As with last year, Apple again led the PC market in sales if tablets and traditional personal computers are combined, according to research firm Canalys. In the 2011 holiday quarter, Apple sold 15 million iPads and 5 million Macs accounting for some 17% of the total 120 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the just-ended fourth quarter of 2012, Canalys estimates that Apple took a greater than 20% share of total shipments, selling 23 million iPads and 4 million Macs. HP and Lenovo were in second and third place, respectively, both selling around 15 million units.

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Apple's growth in the pad segment was driven by strong demand for the iPad mini. Its overall shipments, however, were hampered by supply issues. Canalys estimates that the mini made up over half of Apple's total pad shipments, with its attractive price point and compact design leading to significant cannibalization in the iPad range and wider PC market. Despite record shipments, Q4 saw Apple's pad share dip to 49%, becoming the first quarter it has not controlled over half the market. 'Apple timed the launch of the iPad mini well,' said Pin-Chen Tang, Canalys Research Analyst. 'Its success proves there is a clear demand for pads with smaller screens at a more affordable price. Without the launch, Apple would surely have lost more ground to its competitors.'

Canalys says the tablet segment grew by 75 percent year-over-year to 46.2 million global units on the quarter, while notebook sales were flat.

Whether or not iPads and other tablets should be counted as PCs has become a vigorous debate as observers take differing views on how "personal computers" should be defined. But with Apple making the iPad "PC Free" by eliminating the need to sync to a computer via iTunes and increasing numbers of consumers relying on their iPads for everyday computer functionalities such as browsing, email and music, as well as a broad array of apps, lines between the two types of devices are becoming increasingly blurred.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly said that he believes the tablet market will eventually be bigger than the PC market.

If you are going to combine Apples iPad with desktops then you better combine the XBox too and all other gaming machines.
The iPad doesn't compare to a fully featured desktop operating system as much as a gaming console/device which also has web, email, etc. does.

If you are going to combine Apples iPad with desktops then you better combine the XBox too and all other gaming machines.
The iPad doesn't compare to a fully featured desktop operating system as much as a gaming console/device which also has web, email, etc. does.

Come back with meaningful stats. next time.

Yeah, nobody actually browses the web or check email with their consoles.

Another case of iPads having little excess inventory unsold, while other manufacturers are stuffing the channel. iPads were down as a percentage of shipments... yet to be seen how many of those other tablets were sales.

Yeah, nobody actually browses the web or check email with their consoles..

Can you share your sources that nobody uses the Web Browser on the Xbox?

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Originally Posted by FightTheFuture

I surfed the web once on my PS3. Never did it again.

But come back with a meaningful argument. next time.

Using the same argument that classes the iPad as a computer, would you not class the Xbox as a computer too? It has RAM, a Processor, Video Card, Hard drive. It runs an Operating System and can run apps and games.

Looking forward to seeing the redesigned iPad 5, which according to the rumors looks like a bigger brother of iPad Mini. If Apple can shrink the size and reduce the weight of their full-size iPad, maybe they get again to 50%+ of tablet market share?

Well when we had netbooks--people complained it was a race to the bottom.

How's it different now with tablets? Will there be profits to made in the future?

The problem with netbooks is that they were meant to be a cheaper laptop, which includes modern PC OSes. They would then end up being under-powered and bloated like the current Surface Pro (anti-virus, 20+ GB of lost storage, cheap production materials). That's why many vendors ended up having to resort to Win XP and vendors ended up not making much money out of them.

On the other side, we have tablets, which have the guts of a super smartphone, a different interaction interface (touchscreen vs keyboard/trackpad), and much slimmer OSes. For companies like Apple, this is a golden opportunity since they make loads of profit on the hardware side.

Though you do have players like Samsung and Amazon taking a hit on the pricing, they're not losing as much as the PC vendors were.

If you are going to combine Apples iPad with desktops then you better combine the XBox too and all other gaming machines.
The iPad doesn't compare to a fully featured desktop operating system as much as a gaming console/device which also has web, email, etc. does.

Come back with meaningful stats. next time.

Here's some meaningful stats: In the last year, Apple TVs sold more units than either XBox or Wii.

Can you share your sources that nobody uses the Web Browser on the Xbox?

It's an offhand comment on a discussion board, not an encyclopedic tome on the subject. Yeah there's a vanishingly small population which checks their email from the strangest devices one could conceive of checking their email from. Doable, yes; meaningful to most conversation, no.

This in contrast that most people with tablets DO check their email from it on a regular/frequent basis ... AND a major fraction of tablets are used to play games, including ones approaching "console" sophistication.

Can you share your sources that nobody uses the Web Browser on the Xbox?

Using the same argument that classes the iPad as a computer, would you not class the Xbox as a computer too? It has RAM, a Processor, Video Card, Hard drive. It runs an Operating System and can run apps and games.

I can see your argument. The fact is that consoles are very limited PCs, and I mean really really limited. Browsing the web on a PS3 is a nightmare. The way that it handles flash is just ridiculous. On that matter, consoles also stink at productivity/utility tasks, which can be easily handled by not-so-limited PCs.

Don't get me wrong, my PS3 is the center of all of my Entertainment needs on my living room, but that's about it; Hence, why consoles are not considered PCs.

Using the same argument that classes the iPad as a computer, would you not class the Xbox as a computer too? It has RAM, a Processor, Video Card, Hard drive. It runs an Operating System and can run apps and games.

It's a type of computer, known as a console.

I don't think people will start to call consoles computers anytime soon, whereas people buy tablets to replace computers.

Well when we had netbooks--people complained it was a race to the bottom.

How's it different now with tablets? Will there be profits to made in the future?

It was a race to the bottom: an exploration of how cheap a computer could be made, looking at how little functionality people would still pay for.

Tablets emerged from that context via "hey, if we change the UX paradigm a bit we can make an incredibly small machine very useful". Having brought users over that chasm of cheap-nigh-unto-useless, we can now build tablets with a lot of capability. As the capability increases for a given price, very cheap tablets will be viable, while very powerful ones will be affordable. A top-end iPad is still under $1000, with portability no notebook/netbook could match by inherent design. As shows, there is a LOT of profit to make.